Not sure what Charlotte did to Lizzie is justified although I imagined the two girls doing the one performance a while before Charlotte's arm was knifed. And I think the script is kind of shoddy having to replay certain scenes in order for us to understand what is happening. Would a better writer have been able to incorporate that information without literal rewinds?
shareThe rewind sequence is a technique that I though was well-used in this movie. But as to the title question, "Does the end justify the means?" (Major spoilers ahead) I don't agree that Charlotte should have cut Lizzie's arm of to help her escape. She could have simply killed Anton, his wife and associates (which pretty much happened in the end), and Lizzie would not have had to lose her arm. I understand their anger towards Anton, but I think he quite deserved what must be most awful consequences imaginable.
shareYeah, it was made well enough for a horror film, and well acted, but the "thank you for making me sick as all hell and chop my own hand off" angle is something I really couldn't get past. That was moronic. How in the hell could you forgive someone for that??? And beyond that, to team up with her???
How in the hell could you forgive someone for that??? And beyond that, to team up with her???
A different writer could've incorporated that info, but I think they just wanted to use this particular style. I kinda liked it.
Cutting off her hand to prove a point was asinine and excessive. Even worse was Lizzie buying into it. (Give me a break with that). Them playing together at the end was a good way to incorporate that excessiveness, but a room full of appendage-deprived people seemed over-the-top.
I enjoyed this movie but yes, the drugging and arm chopping was ridiculous
A good heart to heart talk may have been been better but Charlotte was pretty crazy and depressed by that point...it was not very believable
Very good thriller movie though
The arm-chopping, rape, cult-like behavior, etc., shouldn't be taken verbatim. They are metaphors for something else, just like in Get Out, which is also full of absurd things like stirring a teacup, bizarre brain surgeries, etc., which all stand for something else -- something the filmmakers want to convey, but not directly. Some viewers tend to take everything in a film at face value. But a film doesn't always tell you things directly, the same way a novel or any fiction doesn't spell out everything. Sometimes a work of fiction speaks in code. Get Out does it very well, of course. This movie does it less well, but it is a nice attempt nonetheless. It deals with the theme of people physically hurting other people in order to control them and alter their thinking, whether the intention is good or bad. In that case, the arm-chopping fits right in. Are there better ways to treat these themes? Yes, of course. But first we must know that this film is mainly about inflicting physical harm, and adding a layer of meaning to it. Would something that makes more sense than arm-chopping work better? Yes of course. But the theme of bodily harm should remain in order to make the story work.
shareTHIS is an incredibly well reasoned, well stated response. I would add that categorizing the behavior of these characters as "ridiculous," "excessive," or anything similar is Hilariously redundant. Apparently people missed the part about Charlotte being COMPLETELY BONKERS. As in, "needs her hair shaved off and electrodes implanted in her skull" bonkers. To call out her behavior as a weakness in the plot is the height of "missingthepointedness."
For that matter, every principal character in this film is, to a greater or lesser extent, crazy. It's just a matter of degree/type of sickness.
there had to be a better way.
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